Business News

The Chancellor and UK Government must intervene with financial support for hospitality as a matter of urgency, a retail analyst and economist has said today.

Dr Steven McCabe, Birmingham City University, spoke following the news that a major UK pub operator is closing a number of premises in the capital owing to low trade from customers and high Covid cases amongst staff.

The managing director of a Northampton-based family-run industry leader in British woodworking has been shortlisted for a prestigious award.

Amarjit Binji, who runs AJB Group Limited, is among six finalists in the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ category of the Midlands Business Awards (MBAs). Now in its 16th year, the MBAs recognise and reward achievers who demonstrate remarkable outputs and contribution in line with category criteria.

As this year’s festivities draw to a close, Birmingham City Council has again set up a number of locations for residents to recycle their Christmas trees. Disposal points for anyone with an unwanted real tree are clearly identified close to the main entrance to each of the following parks:

Panda Joy, an Oxfordshire based publisher of sustainable and eco-friendly greeting cards is excited to announce the launch of their 100% tree-free greeting card range, using bamboo and cotton linter as a source to eliminate the use of virgin trees to produce greeting cards. As such, Panda Joy is the latest addition to the UK’s £1.7 billion greetings card industry.

The large international online retailer Wildberries announced its entry into the United Kindom, which become the company's 19th country of presence

UK customers can proceed orders in a separate online store at uk.wildberries.ru, as well as through iOS and Android-based mobile apps that work in English and Russian.

Following the Bank of England’s rate decision and minutes, Simon Lister at the financial comparison website, InvestingReviews.co.uk, commented: 

“With the Omicron variant wreaking havoc across countless sectors, the Bank of England’s decision to raise bank rate was the ultimate curveball.

The chief executive and group chairman of Downtown in Business, Frank McKenna, is urging Chancellor Rishi Sunak and the government to re-introduce some financial support packages for businesses, as the imposition of new restrictions threatens many with closure.

Mr McKenna said: “Many of our members in the hospitality sector are reporting a huge spike in cancellations.

A Sandwell charity has scooped £20,000 as part of Persimmon Homes’ hugely successful charity campaign supporting under-18s.

Sandwell Young Carers won one of the top prizes in the Persimmon Homes Building Futures campaign, which encouraged applications in three categories – education & arts, health, and sport.

HS2 Ltd today confirmed that a Hitachi/Alstom JV has been awarded the contracts to build Britain’s next generation of high-speed trains at their factories in Derby and County Durham in a major deal set to support 2,500 jobs across the UK.
The landmark contracts – worth around £2bn – will see the JV design, build and maintain a fleet of 54 state-of-the-art high-speed trains that will operate on HS2 - the new high-speed railway being built between London, the West Midlands and Crewe.

City of Wolverhampton Council has expanded its Relight Business Programme grant to support independent retailers and help businesses across the city invest in low carbon and other environmental measures.

The move comes following feedback from businesses across the city on how best they can be supported after being hit hard by the pandemic.

People are live in a time, following the recent pandemic, when ‘vaccine’ has become a buzzword, at the forefront of everyone’s mind.

But for Kitty Liao, the founder and CEO of UK company Ideabatic, the fascination began seven years ago, when she decided to set up her award-winning social enterprise and present her first product – the SMILE vaccine cooling system, currently on display at the Expo Live Pavilion – The Good Place. The best way to explain how SMILE works is to describe the problems it addresses.

Up to 2,000 old and cold homes across the West Midlands are to get energy saving insulation, low carbon heating systems and other fuel reducing technology after the region secured more than £19 million of government funding.

The money, which follows a successful bid co-ordinated by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) into the government’s Sustainable Warmth Competition, comes as the region seeks to ramp up action to tackle climate change, reduce fuel poverty and support its #WM2041 ambition to be net zero within the next 20 years.

The search is under way to find a construction partner to build three new railway stations on the Camp Hill line in Birmingham.

The £61 million project will see Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell stations constructed and ready for the return of passenger services on the Camp Hill line in Birmingham. Shortlisted construction firms have been officially invited to tender for the contract which is expected to be awarded in the Spring.

Councillor Waseem Zaffar will be asking the Cabinet to approve a recommendation, on 14 December 2021, to create a Local Improvement Budget fund to improve localities.

Designed to tackle minor transport issues identified at ward level, the fund will enable the council to deliver transport and highways capital improvement schemes with a total of £1m of capital funding.

City of Wolverhampton Council has announced it will be launching a new business and enterprise hub to inspire start-ups, growth and support people into employment and training.

IGNITE (Innovate, Grow, Navigate, Ideas, Technology, Entrepreneurship) will be located in ground floor units 3 and 4 of the Council’s i10 office and retail complex at the heart of the city centre’s £150million award-winning transport Interchange.

In 2022 the award-winning social enterprise Pivot will run a series of jewellery making workshops in venues across London, led by trained makers who have lived experience of homelessness. 

In the run-up to Christmas Pivot will be selling workshop vouchers online and across London’s festive markets. Pivot has four workshops currently listed on its website, taking place at the House of Annetta on January 22nd, January 27th, February 12th and March 5th, with more to be released throughout the year.